A brilliant and concise account of the lives and ideas of the great philosophers—Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, Schopenhauer, Spencer, Nietzsche, Bergson, Croce, Russell, Santayana, James, and Dewey—The Story of Philosophy is one of the great books of our time. Few write for the non-specialist as well as Will Durant, and this book is a splendid example of his eminently readable scholarship. Durant’s insight and wit never cease to dazzle; The Story of Philosophy is a key book for any reader who wishes to survey the history and development of philosophical ideas in the Western world.

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Easily the most engaging writer of Western intellectual history in the English language, Will Durant breathes life into philosophers and their ideas. He is colorful, witty, and above all, informative. Beginning with Socrates and ending with American philosopher John Dewey, Durant summarizes the lives and influence of philosophy's greatest thinkers, painting them with humanity and adding a few of his own wise platitudes. Seventy-some years after its first printing, The Story of Philosophy still stands as one of the best of its kind.

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A brilliant and concise account of the lives and ideas of the great philosophers—Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, Schopenhauer, Spencer, Nietzsche, Bergson, Croce, Russell, Santayana, James, and Dewey—The Story of Philosophy is one of the great books of our time. Few write for the non-specialist as well as Will Durant, and this book is a splendid example of his eminently readable scholarship. Durant’s insight and wit never cease to dazzle; The Story of Philosophy is a key book for any reader who wishes to survey the history and development of philosophical ideas in the Western world.

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4,4 de 5 estrelas
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Doug Erlandson

4,0 de 5 estrelasThe story of some parts of philosophy

2 de dezembro de 2014 - Publicada na Amazon.com

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I spent nearly 30 years of my pre-retirement adult life teaching philosophy at the college level, having prior to this received my doctorate in philosophy from Johns Hopkins. Several years ago, because of an ongoing secondary interest in the history of Western civilization, I began reading through Will and Ariel Durant's multivolume "The Story of Civilization," a project that took me three years to complete. I found it to be a thorough (albeit slightly dated) summary of the history of Western civilization through the time of Napoleon.

Because I was no longer teaching and had a bit of time on my hands, I decided to read through Will Durant's "The Story of Philosophy," a work that I had never had the opportunity to peruse during my professional career. I figured it would offer a refresher course on some of the philosophers who had less bearing on the areas of philosophy I regularly taught. I also hoped that it would give me some fresh insights into the philosophers and philosophical movements with which I possessed a degree of familiarity.

The book was not what I expected. I will note why momentarily. First, however, the positive. As I knew from having read his "Story of Civilization," Will Durant is an engaging writer. He is eloquent without being flowery or effete. His vocabulary is extensive, but he does not use it to show off his erudition. In no way is he pretentious. He is also able to explain difficult ideas in a straightforward, understandable fashion, certainly a boon when discussing the theories of philosophers. And he is good at explaining how the thought of a philosopher flows from and contrasts with that of his forbears.

However, if one is expecting a true history of philosophy, this is not the book to read. I would go so far as to say that the title of the book is quite misleading. This is not the story of philosophy. It is the story of the writings of those philosophers who, for whatever reason, Durant wants to highlight. The book pays no significant attention to ancient philosophy before Socrates or after Aristotle. While Socrates/Plato and Aristotle are examined in detail, subsequent developments in Greek and Roman thought are either covered in a most sketchy manner or absent altogether. For example, neo-Platonism in general and Plotinus in particular, are ignored.

Even more shocking is Durant's treatment of the entire middle ages. It is in fact a non-treatment. Without explanation (other than that Durant doesn't think it is important) we skip over nearly a thousand years of Western thought and quickly find ourselves studying the philosophy of Francis Bacon. One could read this book without being aware of philosophers such as Anselm, Peter Lombard, Bonaventure, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, and many others (not to mention the Islamic philosophers of the tenth and eleventh centuries).

When we come to post-medieval philosophy, while we are treated to a fairly detailed explication of Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, and Kant, Durant doesn't even mention Descartes (sometimes regarded as the father of modern philosophy) or the British Empiricists (Locke, Berkeley, and Hume) except by way of extremely brief references when presenting the thought of other philosophers.

Durant does somewhat better in describing the major figures of nineteenth century philosophy. Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche are all given extensive space. However, Durant spends an inordinate amount of time describing the thought of Herbert Spencer, who today is nearly forgotten.

Does all this mean this book is not worth reading? No, it doesn't. I've given it Four Stars, for the reasons stated earlier. It does cover the thought of certain philosophers in a way that is reasonably complete (for an overview) and relatively easy to understand. However, one should not read this book as though it were a general introduction to the story of philosophy.

5,0 de 5 estrelasGreat value for a wonderful introduction to philosophy

25 de janeiro de 2016 - Publicada na Amazon.com

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This book is so engaging that after reading it shortly after graduating college with a BS in Metallurgy, it made me question whether or not I should have been a philosophy major. Years later after losing the physical copy of the book, I bought the book on kindle so I could have it wherever I went as a ready reference. The audible version was available for only $3.49 more so I picked that up as well. I love the whisper sync technology that allows you to go back and forth between listening and reading the book. If you have ever wondered what the big deal about philosophy is, but have been intimidated by difficult texts such as Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason," or Hume's "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding," this is the best $12 you can spend for a readable, broad description of history's most famous philosophers.

I read this book when I was 18 and understood only maybe 25%, but it became a huge influence on my life. Now I have just re-read it at age 61, and figure I understood about 80% of it, and got an even bigger thrill from it this time around. Like religion or science or anything else, there is no need to completely understand philosophy it in order to find pleasure in it. Will Durant is an amazing writer who brings joy and understanding to the history of some of the world's greatest minds, and how they painted God, human nature, politics and wisdom in general.

5,0 de 5 estrelasI read this book 40 years ago, and bought another copy to read again

14 de maio de 2013 - Publicada na Amazon.com

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There are some works that last. Durant's "The Story of Philosophy" is one of those books. The material is timeless and timely, as the same philosophical moments that began with key figures return with new authors and now names, but the content does not vary that much.Over 3 years, Will Durant did the research for this book, and the reader's reward is a full table with tempting dessert.The dessert is one understands the present to a greater extent, so that the current moves and moods are notbewildering but one can say, "I reall that so-and-so said something like that . . .. "The alert reader will be able to make sense of this 21st century puzzle of life, ethics, history, philosophy, and world-views.If I were to teach philsophy in college, I would select this book for an introduction and spend time in small groups and a book of readings in philosophy. This idea would work in lay groups in churches also.

I read this when I was in high school, so it was my introduction to philosophy. I didn't understand much of it at the time, but stuck with philosophy and history (where Durant was also a major figure for me) in college and went on to teach both subjects. I bought this as a present for a young friend just entering high school and have told him it presents many windows. They will be dark for him now, but gradually he will begin to see wonderful things through some of them.